Harvester-reel.



No. 746.534. PATENTED DEC. 8, 1903. .W. H. LIGHTGAP.

HARVBSTER REEL.

APPLICATION FILED r1111 190a.

N0 MODEL.

UNIT D STATES retested December 8, 1903.

PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM HENRY LIGHTCAP, OF LANCASTER, WISCONSIN, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TOWILLIAM T. ANDREWS AND GEORGE F. BEAL', OF MIL- WAUKEE, WISCONSIN.

HARVESTER-REEL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 746,534, dated December8, 19 03.

Application filed February 7, 1903. $er N 142|319- (N 111 661) To allwhom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM HENRY LIGHT- CAP, of Lancaster, in thecounty of Grant and State of Wisconsin,have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Harvester-Reels; and I do hereby declare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention,such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains tomake and use the same.

This invention relates to that class of harvester-reels employing meansfor picking up or straightening fallen grain, such means being capableof being thrown into and out of operation independently of the action ofthe blades or boaters of the reel.

The object of the invention is to provide an a view in front elevationof a reel constructed in accordance with myinvention. Figs. 2 and 3 showthe stationary cam in different positions. Fig. tis a cross-section online to as, Fig. 1, showing the position of the pick-up device withrelation to the beater.

Referring to the drawings, 1 designates the platform of a harvesterhaving a pivoted upright 2, in which is journaled the reel-shaft 3. Theupright 2 may be held in its adjusted position by any preferred means,the object being, as is well known, to permit of regulating the heightof the reel with relation to the grain being cut.

The reel 1 is of the type generally employed ongrain-binding harvesters,comprisinga hub 5 on shaft 3, spokes 6. radiating from the hub, bladesor beater-s7, and braces 8, connecting the blades to the. hub. Mountedupon one face of each of the blades is a bar 9, journaled at its ends inears or eyebolts 10, secured to the blade. The bar may be circular incross-section or merely rounded on that portion of its surfacecontacting with the blade to permit of its turning freely.

12 designatesa series of rake-teeth mounted on and movable withhead-bars 9. In order to turn the bars and their teeth,the former areconnected by links 13 to levers 14, fulcrumed on a spider 15, mounted onshaft 3, the free ends of the lovers carrying rollers 16, which travelentirely around or partly around and partly within a stationaryactuating-cam 17, mounted on an angular extension of upright 2. Theactuating-cam 17 presents on its practically-uninterrupted exterior aconcentric surface, over which the rollers 16 travel when the rakes arenot to be actuated. When, how ever, it is desired to throw the rakesinto operation, the operator moves a switch 18 in the form of a segmentof the peripheral surface of the cam, being pivoted at 19, so as todirect the rollers inwardly against the inner surface of the curvedplate 20. This so draws on the levers that the rakes are thrown intoWorking position. Now as the rollers are about to leave the innereccentrically-acting surface of plate 20 they engage the eccentricsurface 21, by which they are directed against the smooth concentricsurface 22, such engagement throwing the rakes out of working positionat the time they travel over the cutter-bar. When the rakes are not tobe employed, the switch remains locked. The switch is operated by asliding arm 23, having a pin 24 projecting into a slot 25 in the cam,such pin supporting the switch. The

arm 23 is mounted in a bracket 26 on the rear face of the cam and isprovided with a suitable catch 27.

28 designates a guard or deflector on the outer free end of arm 23.

When it is desired to employ the rake-teeth tolift or straighten fallengrain, the operator moves arm 23, the switch 18, anddeflector 28 to theposition shown in Fig. 3. The rotation of the reel in the direction ofthe arrow 3 will cause the rollers to travel over the inner surface ofplate 20, throwing their respective levers 14 outward, and through links13 turning bars 9, so that their rake-teeth are 5 about in the planes ofthe blades on which they are mounted. The teeth will remain in thisposition while the rollers are moving in contact with plate 20; but uponthe rollers contacting with the eccentric surface 21 and while they aremoving over the smooth concentric surface 22 the levers l4c are thrownin the opposite direction and bars 9 turned to cause the teeth to passover the sickle-bar without contacting therewith. This operation will ofcourse continue without requiring the care or attention of the operatoras long as the condition of the grain requires it. When the office ofthe rake-teeth is not desired, arm 23 is moved so as to close theswitch, as shown in Fig. 2. The rollers now travel over and around theouter surface of plate 20,which, with the remaining portion of theperiphery of the cam, constitutes a uniform concentric surface for therollers. The levers 14 are in consequence so held that the teeth are atabout right angles to the blades and do not interfere with the usualaction of the latter when working in straight regular grain, to whichthe smooth surface of the reel-blade is best adapted.

The advantages of my invention are apparent to those skilled in the art.It will be noted that the bar 9, being mounted immediately upon theblades, simplifies the mechanism for supporting the teeth; also, thatthe rake-teeth being movable in a plane at right angles to thelongitudinal axes of their respective blades may be of sufficient lengthto effectively lift and straighten the grain with a combing action, yetbe readily thrown out of operation to permit the blades to be operatedalone--that is, without the raking action. Hence the teeth may be oflength greater than the width of the blades. These advantages areobviously not obtainable when the teeth are designed to turn into thebeaters, which are made hollow for that purpose, as has heretofore beenattempted. In the latter case shorter teeth must be employed, and inmoving out of operation a lateral pull is made against the grain. Itwill be noted, further, that myimprovement may be applied to a reelwithout in any way changing the latter. This is of special importance,as all the advantages of my improvement may be attained in an ordinaryreel having solid beat ers, such as are now in general use, and theattachment may at any time be removed without in any way affecting thereel itself.

I claim as my invention 1. The combination with a harvester-reel havinglongitudinal blades, of bars pivotally mounted immediately on suchblades, raketeeth carried by and movable with said bars, and means forautomatically partially rotating the bars for throwing out andretracting the teeth, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination with a harvester-reel having blades, of barspivotally'mounted immediately on such blades and designed to partiallyrotate thereon, rake-teeth carried transverse plane of the blades or atright angles thereto, for the purpose stated.

3. The combination with a harvester-reel, of bars pivotally mountedimmediately on the blades of the reel, rake-teeth carried by and movablewith such bars, a series of levers connected at one end to said bars,and means for acting on the levers to eifect the outward throw andreturn of the teeth or maintaining them in fixed positions relatively tothe blades, as set forth.

4E. The combination with a harvester-reel and its shaft, of barspivotally mounted immediately on the blades of such reel, raketeeth onsaid bars, a spider on said shaft, a rigid cam, levers pivoted to saidspider, links connecting said bars to said levers, and rollers on saidlevers designed to engage said cam, substantially as set forth.

5. The combination with a harvester-reel having longitudinal blades,rakes carried by said blades, and levers connected to said rakes, of acam having an outer concentric surface and an inner eccentric surface,said levers at their inner ends being designed to engage said surfaces,and a switch for directing the inner ends of said levers into engagementwith said eccentric surface or to act as a bridge between differentportions of such concentric surface, and means for actuating suchswitch, as set forth.

6. The combination with a harvester-reel having longitudinal blades,rakes carried by said blades, and levers connected to said rakeshavingrollers on their free ends, of a cam having an outer concentric surfacearound which the rollers travel, a switch forming a segmental portion ofsuch concentric surface,'and means for actuating such switch to directsaid rollers against the inner side of a portion of such concentricsurface, which acts as a cam on the levers, substantially as set forth.

7. The combination with a'harvester-reel having longitudinal blades,rakes carried by said blades, and levers connected to said rakes havingrollers on their free ends, of a cam having an outer concentric surfacearound which the rollers travel, a switch forming a segmental portion ofsuch concentric surface, means for actuating such switch to direct saidrollers against the inner side of a portion of such concentric surface,which acts as a cam on the levers, and an eccentric surface with whichsuch rollers engage as they leave the inner side of the said concentricsurface, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification in the presence oftwo subscribing witnesses.

WILLIAM HENRY LIGHTOAP.

Witnesses:

W. E. SHIMMIN, J. M. TEESDALE.

